Often, when a user of an instant messaging (IM) system becomes available, she is suddenly inundated with messages from people who have been waiting for her to appear online. This may occur when she first logs onto the IM system, when her status on the IM system changes from “away” to “available”, when her status changes from “in a meeting” to “available”, and so forth. The problem is compounded further in systems which automatically notify other users when a user has become available, for instance in response to a request by such other users. This service is sometimes referred to as a “camp-on” service. Such circumstances often discourage a user from logging onto her IM system for fear of being overwhelmed by messages.
Some IM systems allow a user to log onto the system with a particular status of her choice. That is, rather than logging onto the system with an “available” status, the user can log on with another status, for instance “away”. If the user later wishes to make her presence known to other IM users, she must remember to change her status to “available”, in which case she again risks being inundated with messages.